The success of the DFC500 initiative has therefore resulted in DFC having adequate funds in place to finance the Club’s share of the Blackwell Meadows development.

This FF funding tops up those already available funds so that the minimum Category C FA Ground Grading requirements can be achieved in respect of the pitch infrastructure. The design specifications, and associated project costs, of that infrastructure have not changed since the Board’s last release to fans.

A formal offer letter from the FF will be issued once legal details have been finalised between the Club and Darlington Rugby Football Club (DRFC) in respect of the Agreement to Lease.  The Club’s directors continue to meet regularly with DRFC and the Council (DBC) to deal with those legalities, and other related documents.

In terms of the timing for the return to Darlington, a number of matters have arisen in recent weeks that clearly suggest to the Board that achieving the original target date for the first home league game of the 2015-16 season is, disappointingly, simply unachievable.

You will be aware that the Board has been preparing for the return for many months. In fact, more than 12 months ago, the 2014-15 season tickets were launched with hybrid and transitional arrangements in place, based on all information received at the time, that the other key pieces of the BM jigsaw (i.e. legal, commercial, funding, final design specifications etc.) were likely to be in place within mutually agreed time scales last season.

However, the Board notes that many of those deliverables and dates have continued to change over the last few months and weeks. These primarily relate to securing funding and design modifications in respect of the site’s overall development. This has resulted in a number of the Club’s recently planned updates to the fans having to be withdrawn at relatively short notice, whilst the implications of those changes are fully evaluated by all parties.

Despite the DFC500 initiative funds being available to the Club since March 2015, Your Board feels strongly that it would be inappropriate to utilise the fans’ money by starting work on the pitch until such time as all legal & commercial matters are resolved, all sources of funding have been fully secured for the site as a whole and final design specifications are complete.

The operational and management restructure that DRFC implemented in January this year has also seen a number of changes to the Board’s original understanding and vision of how DRFC intend to operate Blackwell Meadows moving forward and also the associated commercial opportunities available to DFC.

Commercial arrangements between the parties will reflect a close working partnership, with a strong emphasis on community sports participation, and one that also allows the Club’s fans and officials to firmly identify Blackwell Meadows as being DFC’s ‘home’ for many years to come.  The Board cannot, and will not, agree to any terms that do not reflect this fundamental ethos, or that do not protect the longer-term interests of the Club (both commercially and in terms of potential expansion) for the fans and the wider community.

Project managers, contractors and suppliers continue to be on standby to start work as soon as the Club’s directors receive the required level of written assurances in respect of the above matters.

Your Board shares the fans’ excitement and anticipation of the return and would like to reiterate that fans will be kept fully informed of all relevant matters regarding the Club’s return to Darlington as they arise.

Whilst now aiming for a late Autumn return date (as dictated by the pitch growing timescale), the Board feels that a specific date for the return should only be announced once all parties agree that any named date is both realistic and achievable.

The Board of Directors

Darlington Football Club

30 June 2015